I got a chance to learn about the publishing industry and what goes into making a good and engaging romance book that appeals to readers and is easy for libraries highlight as a good potential read to their patrons. They had a really neat session on creating book displays for romance books that I plan to put into use at my library to draw in more readers to this genre, and possibly apply those concepts to other genres when coming up with new displays in the future. They made a point to have diverse authors there and getting to hear them speak about their work and why they are so passionate about creating it helps to make it easier to promote the books and encourage our patrons to read more diversely as well. Another session I attended was focused on crafting book reviews and it got me thinking about maybe making this into a future program where we invite patrons who are interested in the subject and go over the basic rules the presenter gave us and talk about all the ways that a book review on sites can help an author out. I’d even like have a creative element about creating a perfect review sheet or page for readers who wish to track their reads and how it made them feel.
